On Tuesday, Colorado formally submitted its application for the grant, pitting the state against 34 others and the District of Columbia for a share of $3.4 billion being offered by the U.S. Department of Education for ambitious education plans.

"Our phase two Race to the Top application focuses on reducing the dropout rate, closing the achievement gap and turning around low-performing schools so that every child gets the high-quality education they deserve," said Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter in a prepared statement.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said 10 to 15 states could win in the second round. Finalists will be announced in late July and winners by September.

Duncan, in a press release, commended the applicants.

"It required administrators, elected officials, union leaders, teachers, and advocates to work together and embrace a common reform agenda," he said. "Every state that applied now has a blueprint for raising educational quality across America."

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Colorado lost in the first round, finishing 14th among 16 finalists with 409.6 points on a 500-point scale.

Delaware and Tennessee were the sole winners — receiving a total of $600 million.

Education analysts believe Colorado has positioned itself better for the second round with the passage of a law that ties student academic growth to teacher and principal evaluations and changes the way teachers get and keep nonprobationary status, or tenure.

The state's 193-page application was endorsed by 114 of Colorado's 178 school districts, the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind and the Charter School Institute — representing 89.8 percent of the state's students.

Only five teacher-union locals signed on to support the application, including locals from districts in Douglas and Moffat counties and Durango.

The Colorado Education Association, which represents 40,000 teachers, did not sign its support of the application.

"We're not participants in this particular phase of Race to the Top," said Deborah Fallin, spokeswoman for the CEA.

However, the application says the CEA and the much smaller American Federation of Teachers have been "invaluable partners," helping develop the Colorado Growth Model, content standards and engaging stakeholders during the Race to the Top public process.

"Both CEA's and AFT's insights have improved the design of Colorado's plan, and their commitment has set the stage for successful implementation of the plan," says the application.

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